Sermon preached at the Grosvenor Chapel
The following sermon was preached by Fr Dominic Robinson SJ at our neighbouring Church of England parish, the Grosvenor Chapel. Fr Dominic was invited to preach at the invitation of the Reverend Richard Fermer as part of a pulpit swap for the ecumenical Season of Creation. Fr Richard will preach at Farm Street Church on Sunday 20th September.
The symbol of the cross: an image we all know so well, and which, even in an increasingly secular country like ours, one which is still all around us: not just in churches and Christian schools but it’s true, isn’t it, so many of us wear a cross on our person on a chain as an item of jewelry, sometimes perhaps without thinking of its significance, you still find crosses in unusual places reminding us of a time when our culture was so much more interwoven with Christian faith - on old buildings, on the streets. The cross still represents a powerful symbol for our society.
So what does it mean for us today? A friend of mine expressed it this way: “it is what really makes sense of our lives”. What did he mean, did we mean? Perhaps that there is something of the focal point in the history of the universe when all our histories and our futures are telescoped into this one act of infinite love which is the consummation of everything in God’s plan for us and our world. And so at all times, but especially times like this when we appear to stand at a crisis point in time, on the threshold of a new era – so many people are saying yes, this is not just moving to the new normal but the pandemic is thrusting us into something completely different – at this critical time in our history we are I believe being invited to make the cross our standard. A standard of hope, of liberty, of the power of infinite love as the driving force of what it is to flourish fully as human beings who find themselves inhabiting this fragile planet at this extraordinary fragile time when all our aspirations and our mistakes great and small are lifted up on the cross of Jesus Christ as this cosmic action points the way forward of a brave new world under its standard.
The cross, then, is for the 21st century Christian not just a standard of the hope of a Messiah but the standard of that hope which is brought to its fulfillment in the “consummatum est” of the Son on the cross that first Good Friday afternoon and which now spurs us not just to discern a better future for our world as part of God’s plan but actually to place ourselves under the banner of the cross to rebuild what is broken, in our personal lives, in our society and world – the ‘vexilla Regis’ – the royal banners of the merciful King who has brought all peoples to himself through his death and resurrection in atonement for our sins, the sins of the whole world. And that is why the cross is indeed a triumph for us – why “it is finished” become words not of resignation, not of despair, not of darkness and depression, but words which will be echoed in the Church as his disciples follow the standard of the cross to build a new civilisation of love.
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. In the “consummatum est” we embrace the passion of God for us in such a way he gives us infinite freedom to turn from him yet the power of love is so great it transforms us and draws us towards him, towards the heaven we deep down know we truly long and to bring that Kingdom of heaven to the here and now on this earth.
And the second reading we just heard challenged us to delve into the depths of what this infinite love means for us. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him’. Not to condemn us, not simply to take our sins onto himself in expiation, but because he loves us infinitely his suffering and death, that perfect sacrifice of love, completes us, draws us to himself, brings about a new creation. As we have been challenged in the readings: “How in our day can we understand cosmic redemption? At a time of advancing ecological devastation, what would it mean to rediscover this biblical sense of the natural world groaning, hoping, waiting for liberation? What might it mean, in the light of the cross, to embrace a mission as Church across ecumenical divides, to help re-educate and rebuild a society in which all human beings share their interconnectedness and have mutual respect for each other, and in which the natural world is embraced, celebrated, respected, rather than plundered for our own gain. This is what it is to stand as humanity, stewards of creation, under the banner of the cross. This is the time, we keep hearing from Pope Francis, to take bold steps and heed where God is calling us to a new era, where peace and justice flourish.
Emerging from the tunnel of the lockdown and COVID restrictions, it’s time to look back so as to look forward. At Farm Street Church we are meeting many challenges which try to address the question of what is this new era. And to live Church in different ways. Many have been very grateful for our livestreaming – and we have attracted many more to our celebration of Mass, 3 times as many as is usually the case. And we will carry on with that now and want to engage with our new digital congregation. But many have also said how much they miss gathering around the altar to pray, to worship, to receive Holy Communion, yes, to be Church together, to feel we are together, as Francis reminds us constantly in his letter Laudato Si’, to embrace our interconnectedness. In a certain sense, despite all we have been doing to continue to minister during the pandemic, and despite all the wonderful expressions of sharing faith at home which also are an unexpected gift of this time for our future – the domestic Church in small groups being rekindled - there is no substitute for being physically gathered around the altar. Without that we have been struggling to be Church. Because the Church is the gathered assembly from all over, bringing together a scattered diverse group of people around the table of the Last Supper.
And this call to confidently be that Church also includes the need to work for reconciliation between our Churches, to do all we can to show how Christians are especially interconnected under the banner of the cross of Christ, united as a vital force in our society. What more important time than this for us to show how we are united as Christians as we see violence on our streets whipped up by identity politics which try to separate people on grounds of race, belief, association, and yet we see also the yearning for the common good of a humanity showing its unity as we emerge from this time of pandemic in which we’ve all been in it together. We see a surge of energy to end discrimination for all, Christians and others together showing their anger at the evil of racism, fighting to ensure everyone is treated with the dignity they deserve. How much we see a yearning to respect, to feed, to shelter, those many more new homeless, to bring them to the table where all are fed and given the care they deserve as human beings. Our volunteers in Trafalgar Square and Warwick Street have been doing that every day, confronting the scandal of the growing hundreds of new homeless in our city and country left begging for shelter, food, and recourse to public funds. We do this in collaboration with those of other faiths and none. This is the banner of the cross, lived out as a Church at the heart of society.
And at this time of crisis we are seeing a desire urgently to save our fragile planet. This change of era is challenging us to consider the evil we have been doing to the earth given to us freely by God with a command to be good stewards. I see all around me a desire to lighten our consumption, to avoid increasing pollution, here in Mayfair to create greener areas, rewilded and re-embraced with the respect and care our earth deserves. Creation, many in our city and country, outside of religion or with faith, recognise is groaning, making us aware of our need to change our attitude to creation, to place ourselves on this earth under the banner of the cross, and to not simply discern and wait but to take action urgently so we reclaim our future, a future of hope made real in what Christ has done for us on the cross. The new creation is here to be celebrated, embraced, respected deeply. And this is what we are celebrating together as Christians at this season of Creation, a new ecumenical initiative which invites us to solidarity as Christians united under a common vision, a common standard of Christ’s cross.
May this feast day inspire us to work to bring about that new creation and may this season help us to respond fully to the call to celebrate the gifts of the natural world we have been given and to preserve them for future generations. May it inspire our hearts to make that great prayer of praise to God for the gift of the creation we are called to rebuild: Praise be to you! – Laudato Si’!
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ